Page 76 - Spring2008

um glutamate in 1908. Through the years, monosodium glutamate has been in New York. It appears obvious to this writer

promoted as a flavor enhancer that imparts essentially no taste of its own to that McLaughlin was directed to these chefs by
a product. However, in recent years, Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (Ajinomoto), the the glutamate industry. Most chefs in gourmet
world’s largest producer of the food ingredient “monosodium glutamate,” restaurants that I have visited avoid MSG, in any
must have determined that if the taste of monosodium glutamate and the form, like the plague, and attempt to use only
many processed food ingredients that included the reactive component of fresh ingredients.

monosodium glutamate (“MSG”) was declared a fifth taste, it would help The Wall Street Journal article discloses
to legitimize their products. that Ajinomoto reports current annual sales of
monosodium glutamate in the U.S. at 95,000
SELLING UMAMI metric tons (209,437,000 pounds). As shocking
For years, Ajinomoto has spent large sums of money to have umami as that fi gure may be, it is important to realize that
legitimized as a fi fth flavor. Finally, their efforts paid off in the year 2000, the fi gure does not include the “hidden” sources

when two scientists at the University of Miami identified taste buds on the of MSG, that is, the sources of MSG other than
tongue that responded to the presence of glutamate in foods and, fi nally, the ingredient specifi cally called monosodium
the press gave wide coverage to their discovery. (The study was funded, glutamate, such as hydrolyzed proteins and yeast
1
in part, by Ajinomoto.) With the publicity that followed the University of extract. I am sure that the addition of these prod-
Miami study, many—but not all—flavor scientists began to refer to umami ucts more than doubles the total use of MSG in

as a fifth taste. People such as myself, who have a life-threatening sensitiv- our country.

ity to MSG, question umami’s status as a fifth taste since we are not able Although McLaughlin’s article is fi lled
to taste MSG. If we could, we would have little difficulty avoiding it. with misleading information that would lead the

In this writer’s interaction with countless MSG-sensitive people reader to believe that monosodium glutamate and
over more than 18 years, I have only communicated with three people other sources of MSG are wonderful and safe,
who contended that they could tell when MSG was in a food preparation. she also included two totally incorrect claims of
However, their method of identification was a feeling of an electrical charge, the glutamate industry in her article. She stated,

a tingling on their tongue, rather than an actual taste. based on an interview with a representative of one
In presenting the case that umami is “a new taste sensation,” of the glutamate industry’s newer organizations,
McLaughlin interviewed well respected chefs who supported the value of Ajinomoto Food Ingredients, located in Chicago,
“umami.” She included such names as Gary Danko of the restaurant by his that “. . . the glutamate in food is the same as the
name in San Francisco, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten of Jean-Georges glutamate in MSG. . .”

NATURAL VERSUS MANUFACTURED UMAMI

Ajinomoto Co., Inc., the company that is promoting the idea that “umami” is the fifth taste, has known for years that
it is L-glutamic acid that causes a perception of enhanced flavor. Consequently, in developing patents for the production
of their product, monosodium glutamate, they have dismissed approaches that contain an excess of contaminants because
contaminants would not contribute to flavor enhancement. The monosodium glutamate that they currently produce is
advertised as having less than 1 percent contaminants.
In the 18 years during which the Truth in Labeling Campaign has extensively studied the subject of monosodium
glutamate and the many hidden forms of the reactive component of monosodium glutamate, we have concluded that
there is likely more than one biochemical mechanism that causes adverse reactions in MSG-sensitive people. However,
we believe that the most common reason for adverse reactions may be an intolerance for one or more of the contaminants
that invariably are produced when glutamic acid is freed from protein through adulteration, processing and/or fermenta-
tion.
If a food ingredient is untreated, unprocessed and unfermented, even if it contains free glutamic acid, it will only con-
tain L-glutamic acid because higher organisms contain only L-glutamic acid. There will be no contaminants. Consequently,
MSG-sensitive people can typically eat tomatoes off of the vine even though they contain free glutamic acid (umami),
providing that they are not overripe, and cheeses such as Reggiano Parmesan that are made from raw milk rather than
pasteurized milk or milk that has been cultured, and that are made from rennet rather than enzymes. Give the same
person a domestic cheese made from pasteurized milk, cultured milk, and/or enzymes and an adverse reaction will often
follow. (Possibly, any processed free glutamic acid (MSG) from fermentation of Reggiano Parmesan cheese is below the
tolerance level of most MSG-sensitive people.)

76 Wise Traditions SPRING 2008